Learn more about Death Comes to Pemberley:

Elizabeth and Darcy have forged a peaceful, happy life for their family at Pemberley, Darcy''s impressive estate. But on the eve of a ball, chaos descends. Lydia Wickham, Elizabeth''s disgraced sister who, with her husband, has been barred from the estate, arrives in a hysterical state--shrieking that Wickham has been murdered.

From the Publisher:A rare meeting of literary genius: P. D. James, long among the most admired mystery writers of our time, draws the characters of Jane Austen's beloved novel Pride and Prejudice into a tale of murder and emotional mayhem.

It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy's magnificent estate. Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable. Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. They have two fine sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles. Elizabeth's sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; her father visits often; there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy's sister Georgiana. And preparations are under way for their much-anticipated annual autumn ball.

Then, on the eve of the ball, the patrician idyll is shattered. A coach careens up the drive carrying Lydia, Elizabeth's disgraced sister, who with her husband, the very dubious Wickham, has been banned from Pemberley. She stumbles out of the carriage, hysterical, shrieking that Wickham has been murdered. With shocking suddenness, Pemberley is plunged into a frightening mystery.

Inspired by a lifelong passion for Austen, P. D. James masterfully re-creates the world of Pride and Prejudice, electrifying it with the excitement and suspense of a brilliantly crafted crime story, as only she can write it.

From the Hardcover edition.

Annotation:Grande dame of British mysteries P.D. James says that reaching her 90th year convinced her that it was time to "indulge" in a project she'd had in mind for a while: writing a sequel to Jane Austen's classic Regency romance, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE--as a murder mystery. Readers fond of Austen's heroines, as well as fans of James's mysteries, can enjoy the results in DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY. Gearing up for the annual fall ball, Elizabeth and Darcy's relaxing dinner with friends Jane and Bingley gets interrupted by a carriage chase that ends in the discovery of a corpse. The victim is the husband of Elizabeth's youngest sister, Lydia, launching Elizabeth and her family into a riveting investigation. James masterfully captures the milieu of Austen's Pemberley, as she brings delightful new life (albeit surrounding a confounding death) to some of the most beloved characters in English literature.

Author Bio

P. D. James

P. D. James always dreamed of being a writer as a child, but her plans were temporarily waylaid by World War II and a subsequent successful career in civil service. She joined the Red Cross at the outset of the war and married Ernest White in 1941. Though they had two daughters together, their marriage was marred by chronic mental disturbances that her husband suffered after the war, which eventually led to his death. From 1949 to 1968, James worked in a hospital in London, but never forgot her first passion. In 1962 she published her first novel, "Cover Her Face", which featured Detective Adam Dalgliesh, the cultured, sensitive protagonist for which she is best known. Other critically acclaimed novels include the bestseller "Innocent Blood" (1980) and "An Unsuitable Job for a Woman" (1972), one of the first mysteries to feature a female investigator who is portrayed as capable of leading a dangerous investigation. James remained devoted to her career in civil service, working in the police department from 1968 to 1979 and serving on a variety of literary and arts councils after her retirement.

Praise

"The style of DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLY is a loose approximation of 19th-century prose, a sort of modern equivalent, rather than a painstaking imitation. But it's more than convincing and every now and then, as a kind of homage or reminder, hits the precise, epigrammatic Austen note." - Charles McGrath 12/27/2011

"[T]his novel reflects James' sensibility and preoccupations. It is a universe of dark meanings, hidden relationships and events that are ?mired in apprehension and potential danger.' James is also intent on bringing the real world into Austen's world, mentioning Napoleon and the war with France as well as the new invention known as the water closet...." - Kenneth Turan 01/15/2012

"P. D. James is head and shoulders above the average Jane Austen imitator as a writer. There's the mouth-watering prospect that she might be able to get close enough to Austen's inimitable style to make us believe we're really at Pemberley again." - Elizabeth Kantor 02/20/2012